Out of Her Time
by Sierra C-137
Summary: Rick knows he's missing her. He doesn't want to admit it, but he does. So what does he do? He goes back in time in another dimension and takes a younger version of Diane back with him so she could live with the rest of the family. What could possibly go wrong?


**1.01**

"So you're telling me this is the guy our daughter marries in most dimensions?" the woman asked as she turned to Rick with a horrified expression then let her forehead hit the table with a loud thud. "We failed as parents, Rick," she mumbled. "Take me back to my dimension and time and let me fix this. It's not late, _my_ Beth is still seven."

"Never mind that I'm sitting right here."

"Shut up, Jerry!" Diane and Rick yelled at the same time.

Letting out an annoyed groan, Jerry stood up and put up his hands. "You know what? I don't have to sit here and listen to the two of you. This is my house so if you'll keep talking about me like that I'll just throw you out."

"And you'll just casually tell Beth you kicked out her parents? Good luck with that," Diane told her son-in-law with a wide grin before he finally decided to leave the dining room.

Rick stuffed a handful of fries in his mouth and kept staring at her while he chewed. Once he finished he leaned back in the chair and stretched his arms in the air. "Sad news is, if Beth doesn't marry this idiot there's no Morty. But Ricks need Mortys because they are the best camouflages."

Nodding, Diane let out a long sigh of defeat. She could only hope there were Jerrys out there who weren't total losers like the one she was living with at the moment. Her thoughts quickly drifted to her daughter; her Beth, the little girl who was now suffering from the 'death' of her mother. Knowing she was supposed to die the day this Rick had showed up to take her with him was bad enough but leaving Beth behind was even worse.

Well, leaving Beth _and_ her Rick behind.

"You know, I still have tons of questions, Rick," she suddenly spoke up, glancing over at him. "Just saying."

"Don't worry, ask as much as you'd like," he replied as he reached for the remaining fries.

This was something her Rick would have never said. "I love you, honey, but you're asking way too many questions sometimes. I mean, it's like you couldn't realize when it's the right time to stop," he'd told her once. He wasn't being rude he was just... Well, he was just Rick.

"What happened to _your_ Diane?" she asked with her head slightly tilted to the side.

Rick groaned and shook his head, slowly reaching over to grab the last hamburger on the table. "Next."

"So you don't want to talk about it."

"No, I don't."

For now Diane decided to leave Rick alone so she headed upstairs to find her daughter. Ever since she'd arrived Beth's been doing her best to avoid having a conversation. It's not like Diane could blame her though, after all it's not every day that a younger version of your mother shows up. And no, even Rick being around didn't make it less shocking.

Slowly she took a deep breath and raised her hand. Was it even the right time? Should she give her a bit more time to think about things? Then again it didn't really matter when they talked about these things; sooner or later they'd have to talk anyway so she finally knocked on the door.

"Um, hey mom," Beth greeted her the moment she opened the door. For a few seconds they just stood there in awkward silence before Beth stepped aside to let her inside. Even though her mother immediately walked in to sit on the edge of the double bed she only stood in the door with her arms folded over her chest. "Sooooo…. How are you?"

"I'm worried about you," Diane admitted as she patted the mattress so she would finally sit next to her. "I know it's hard but I want to make this work."

Beth shook her head while she walked over to the bed. "It's not hard, it's weird. You're my mother yet you're a lot younger than me."

"That's flattering but I'm not that younger."

"You're still younger," Beth pointed out. After letting out a long sigh she reached for the glass of wine on the nightstand and continued, "Look, I only have to get used to the idea of you being around. Don't get me wrong, I'm really happy, it's just unexpected."

"Trust me, I know what you mean," Diane admitted with a supportive smile. "But sooner or later we'll have to talk about your lack of judgment when it comes to choosing a husband."

For the first time she'd arrived Beth eventually laughed. "Dad doesn't like him either but I think you already knew it. Truth is, Summer and Morty are the results of this marriage and I love them. I know Jerry's not perfect-and even I admit that's an understatement-but we have two wonderful children together and that's great."

"I'm so proud of you, honey," Diane said after she pulled her daughter into a hug. "We'll talk later, okay? In fact, we should go out and have dinner together."

"Sure, it sounds great."

It had only been two days since Rick C-137 dragged her to this time and universe but Diane was already drowning in her newfound existential crisis. She was supposed to die yet Rick came to save her by letting a clone of her die in that car accident. But this universe, this time and family wasn't hers.

Rick apparently did his best to make her feel like she was at home because he had been around her all the time. It was usually rare in _her_ Rick's case and that was the understatement of the year.

But Beth wasn't about to get used to the idea of her mother being around anytime soon and it was breaking her heart. Her beautiful little girl was now an adult with two children of her own-three if she counted Jerry as one too-and this was the perfect opportunity for them to spend some time together. There was nothing she could do about it, though, apart from waiting patiently for Beth to loosen up a bit.

Until then all she had was a bunch of memories of her family; her ex-husband she still loved and their amazing daughter who was probably trying to understand where her mommy went. Diane could only hope Rick knew how to explain Beth her mother's death. Would he ever tell her the truth? Would he tell her that her mother wasn't dead just taken to a different time and dimension?


End file.
